Currently Xbox Live exists on the Xbox to bring a social element to users when they play games on Xbox, amongst other things. Also Xbox Live connects with Games for Windows Live, which does a similar thing for PC that Xbox Live does for the Xbox. We know that Microsoft has been looking for someone to help them bring Xbox Live to Windows Mobile to allow users to game on the go. Now Kotaku has a post that shows a image from Microsoft identifying where they want Xbox Live to exist and that includes Windows Mobile.
The image its self contains nothing major, in that we knew Microsoft were looking to bring Xbox Live to Windows Mobile. But something that has made me think a bit is the way Microsoft plan to position the Zune and it would seem they plan to do a similar thing for Xbox Live.
Microsoft want to make Zune into a brand, and not just a device, that will allow them to provide an entertainment platform across many platforms and devices. Zune can now be accessed through PCs, Xboxes and the internet but we also know Microsoft plan to provide an application for Windows Mobile. It is also their aim to provide software for other platforms most like Macs, iPhones and iPods (if Apple will allow them). When looking at the image above it seems to me that Microsoft are attempting to do a similar thing with Xbox Live, first bringing the brand to its own platforms and then plans to provide it for competitors platforms.
It is an interesting idea as it would benefit Microsoft hugely and in theory could turn a large number of handheld devices into portable Xboxes and could instantly make Microsoft a giant in handheld gaming, rather than leaving it all to Sony and Nintendo (and increasingly Apple). This would also allow people to choose the right hardware for them and allow them to have access too any addition features they wanted from a handheld device, a problem with current handheld gaming machines is there is limited choice.
There is nothing known about what Xbox Live Games (the mobile version of Xbox Live) will be but I hope its something that can be spread out to other platforms to allow people to game wherever the are on whatever they have.
I doubt we will see anything from Microsoft about Xbox Live Games any time soon as the job posting was only posted within the last few months, but perhaps this time next year we will know more about Microsoft’s plans to allow the Xbox to go mobile.
